


At the End of the Line

by GealachGirl



Series: College AU [1]
Category: Band of Brothers, Generation Kill
Genre: College, Comfort, Finals, M/M, Stress, background ships, end of semester blues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-06 22:52:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12827823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GealachGirl/pseuds/GealachGirl
Summary: Who will be there for you? That’s what Dick Winters wants to know. With finals around the corner, group projects piling up and his friends crumbling around him, who does the caretaker of the group have to rely on?





	At the End of the Line

 

It wasn’t even 10 a.m. and Dick was on his third cup of coffee. His first class had been at nine, so he hadn’t been awake long enough for the second to take effect yet, but that hardly mattered.

Lip pointed that out with a concerned eyebrow on the other side of the table.

“I know,” Dick sighed. His voice sounded more defeated than he’d intended, but he couldn’t take it back. “It’s just comforting at this point. I feel like I’m getting something done.”

For some reason he’d decided to choose a major that focused on projects—both individual and group—and—as happened with all projects—he’d come to a roadblock with each one. On top of that, he had writer’s block, December meant his job was getting hectic and he was on four hours of sleep, so Dick needed every comfort he could get.

Lip frowned like he understood, and took a swig from his own coffee. Though his was for true sleep deprivation.

“How’s your project going?” Dick asked. He needed to be distracted by something, even if it was talking about other coursework.

Lip sighed. “No better than before, but we’re pushing through.” Dick glanced around the lobby of the library and saw project woes must have been making the rounds.

“How late were you up working on it alone?”

Lip put his hands over his face. “Three? Luz was there, at least.” He saw Dick’s expression and added, “He said he would do all the presenting when it’s time. He has three other projects to work on, too.”

“I know, you’ve explained that.” Dick’s phone beeped then and his mood sank. Lip didn’t look up, but he raised his coffee cup in solidarity. Dick tried to take heart, but he just took another drink instead.

 

“My question is just why,” Harry said, slamming his notebook closed. “Why have class when you don’t have anything to say?”

Dick hummed an agreement, rubbing his temple. Sobel had sent an email late last night, pointing out that the projects didn’t take the place of class time, even though they’d gotten to the end of the textbooks.

The headache currently slamming against the front of his skull was mostly stress-related, and Dick didn’t think his shoulders could get any closer to his ears. But leave it to Sobel to find a way to prove him wrong.

“I just want one thing to stop,” he said through gritted teeth. All he needed was one afternoon to relax.

Harry laughed, rough and empty. “Wouldn’t we fucking all?” Then he perked up a little, and Dick saw Kitty walking toward them. Beside him, Harry visibly relaxed and a weak smile appeared.

“I’ll see you at work later?” But if he actually wanted an answer, he didn’t wait for one. Instead he made his way toward Kitty, and slumped into her hug. And Dick was just glad he was alright.

 

“I swear to God I’m dropping out”

The text came between class and a group project meeting. It was getting dark, so Dick wondered if it would snow and maybe he wouldn’t have to work.

“You’re not dropping out, Luz,” he replied.

“No seriously Toye said the mechanic shop he works at needs a secretary or something, I could totally do that” The reply was instant and Dick stopped walking to address it. Luz apparently had a “plan,” so this wasn’t the first time he’d thought about it.

“You’re a semester away from graduating. Why would you throw it all away now?” Dick thought a little bit and typed out a second message, “Besides, you’d get bored as a secretary.”

“Toye would be there…and Guarnere and sometimes Babe…” But Dick could tell he’d at least talked him off the ledge for now.

He shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and waved away Ron’s sharp, expectant look as he closed the study room door behind him. “I know, I know.” Dick looked around the room. “We’re the only ones?”

“Of course we are,” Ron spat. “We’re the best students so there’s no reason for anyone else to show up.”

Dick sighed and sank into a chair. He rubbed a hand over his face and ignored the annoyance simmering in his chest. “Okay, it might be better this way anyway.”

Ron didn’t argue, so they opened some books and the general information document online and got to work.

And they worked for about an hour. Then Ron’s phone dinged again, for the eighth time, and he stopped to look at it and respond.

Dick’s stress hadn’t abated at all and he thought about running to the library café for another cup of coffee. “Is there something more important you have to do?” he asked, putting his pen down and trying not to sound as annoyed as he was.

Ron looked at him over his phone with an unamused expression. “Don’t get pissy with me. I told Carwood to check in with me every five to ten minutes when I saw him earlier. He’s running on two hours’ sleep and he’s still working on his damn papers. I can’t leave him unattended.” He ended the angry sentence with a final tap on his screen before he put his phone down again.

And Dick could understand that. Everyone seemed to be falling apart.

He’d heard that Lieb had carried Web out of the library last night at 3 a.m. because he’d fallen asleep over his notes. And Gene had zoned out while cooking because he hadn’t slept at all. Brad had told him earlier that Ray had been at his department for eight hours last night, working on a project. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. So Ron had probably heard the same stories.

“Okay, let’s just try to finish this second part and we can call it quits,” Dick said, looking at the clock on his phone. He only had time for that anyway. Ron nodded and put his phone down again.

“Let’s get to work.”

 

They’d finished the section, locked up the study room, and were discussing when to meet again when they stumbled across a figure on a couch in the open area of the library.

Dick and Ron exchanged a look before Ron walked forward to investigate. At the same time, Dick took stock of the emptied backpack and empty coffee cups. Ron nodded, and Dick realized Nate must have been here for a while.

He was vibrating and staring at his computer so hard you’d think it had wronged him. Dick saw the title of the open document and understood it had.

“Alright, come on,” Ron said. His hands came down on Nate’s shoulders, stopping the vibrations, and he pulled him to his feet.

Nate came to roughly, but he registered where he was and who they were right away. “What time is it?” he asked. His voice was still vibrating and Dick could practically feel the caffeine in his own veins.

“Better question: how long have you been here?” Dick asked, taking care of the laptop and books while Ron took care of keeping Nate upright.

“That’s a loaded question,” Nate replied.

Ron held a hand out for the bag. “Okay I’m going your way anyway, come on.” Nothing about his command left it up for debate, and he nodded at Dick as he led Nate through the library doors. As they left, Dick heard Nate ask about Evan, but the door fell shut on Ron’s reply.

So Dick pulled out his phone and sent Evan a text. After a moment of thought, he sent one to Luz, too because there was always a chance they were together in the J-school.

When that was done, Dick checked the time and sighed. He was going to be late for work.  

    

On his way there, Dick got several texts. One from his manager, one from Harry, one from each friend with a journalism major, and two from members of two different group projects.

After scanning the last two, Dick shoved his phone into his pocket and went out to the floor. He’d never been more eager to exert himself for minimum wage.

Harry spotted him first.

“Where the hell have you been?” he whispered.

“Library. Helping friends,” Dick replied. He managed to keep the simmering to a minimum, and he was proud.

The group members had told him things had come up—one had a sorority meeting and another had a friend who was getting a tattoo, and being at those was obviously more important than getting a good grade—so they couldn’t meet up about the project due in six days.

And this had happened with them three times now.

“Like the saint you are,” Harry replied, and he laughed but his voice still sounded hollow. He shook his head and lifted a box off a dolly. “Here, bless this.”

They worked like that for a few hours, but Dick couldn’t seem to shake the stress and aggravation that had built up all day. All month. Work certainly didn’t help when he and Harry discovered the people on the day shift hadn’t done their job right, which meant he and Harry didn’t get a break.  

And when it ended, Dick felt like he was on the brink of an explosion—a feeling that only increased as he crossed the parking lot to his car and mentally queued up all the work he had waiting for him at his apartment. In the driver’s seat, he paused for one moment to take a breath, and that was when it all finally fell apart.

Everything collapsed, and it was like Dick realized he’d been drowning. He pressed his forehead into the steering wheel and screwed his eyes shut as the feeling mounted and he felt like he was going to tear out of his skin. For one second he didn’t want to manage everything. He wanted the world to take care of itself. He wanted to breathe.

His phone buzzed and he cracked his eyes open to see the message that said, “are you okay? Sparky said you were tense earlier.”

And that was when he knew what to do.

With his brain still spinning, Dick straightened in his seat and turned the keys.

* * *

 Nix’s mattress was on the floor and pressed into a corner of his room. Why he didn’t buy a frame and a box spring was a mystery to all of them, especially since he had the money. But it was Nix, and that was a pretty good reason by itself.

Even then, Dick wasn’t complaining. The bed was comfortable and the dark corner was nice.

The bedroom curtains blocked most of the light from outside. But in the gaps along the sides, the streetlights still shone through in thin stripes that stretched across the floor and walls, so the room wasn’t entirely dark. And the best part was that Dick could breathe.

He looked toward the closed bathroom, and the border of light between the frame and door. Inside, Nix was finishing the shower that had been interrupted.

When Dick had showed up at his apartment, Nix had been wearing a towel around his waist, dripping water, but his face had lit up. They had very different schedules, and with how busy everything had been they hadn’t seen each other much lately. But as soon as he’d looked closer, Nix had seen Dick was nearing a breakdown and pulled him inside.

And now Dick was collapsed on Nix’s ridiculous pile of pillows trying to relax.

The bathroom door banged open then, and Nix was silhouetted in the frame. But that only lasted for a second because he shut the light off and crossed the room to his closet.

Dick watched his boyfriend rummage through his laundry for clothes and wondered if Nix was busy with something. Or if he would be in the morning. Or if he should be. And that only exasperated the guilt he was already feeling for sitting down and leaving his phone on Nix’s couch.

But Nix joined him on the mattress with a big sigh and a frown. “You don’t look any more relaxed than when you insisted I leave you here and finish what I was doing,” he said.

Dick waved his concern away. This, the quiet and dark and the mattress, was going to work. “I’m just thinking,” he said.

The two fell quiet then, but Dick’s thoughts didn’t. Those reared up and crashed against his skull, wave after wave of deadlines and to-dos and messages and responsibilities. He closed his eyes against it all and let out a shaky breath. Then the bed dipped around him.

Nix propped himself up on an elbow so he was leaning over Dick and narrowed his eyes.  “Should I be worried?”

Dick looked into his face, and then up at the ceiling as he remembered the feeling of all that weight crushing him in the parking lot. “It’s just so much,” he said eventually, and his voice sounded small.

And when he realized he wasn’t remembering the weight, that it was actually coming back, Dick closed his eye again, pressing his fists into his forehead like he would with a headache, and hoped it might brace him for the impact.

“Hey. Dick,” Nix shook his arm and real concern flooded through his voice. Dick opened his eyes to see Nix’s, big and worried, over him. “Stay with me. Your head is where all of this is happening, so stay out here. Talk to me.”

And it was strange, Dick thought, to see that kind of urgency directed toward him. But this was Nix, who knew him like he did whiskey. And this was Nix who never seriously judged him, or turned him away. And even though this wasn’t the way they usually worked, this was Nix.

So Dick talked.

He talked about his day, his week, all the time between getting these assignments or group projects and now. And he talked about their friends who were all so stressed out, and how he was worried about them and knew he needed to make sure they were okay. 

Dick talked until he was able to collect all the pieces that had collapsed before, and the wave finally sunk back into the sea and he could breathe again. Think again. All of the work still existed, but for once, Dick was able to push those thoughts away.

He settled back into the pillows for the first time since he’d made it to Nix’s and he relaxed into his quieted brain.

“There you go,” Nix said softly as he stretched out beside Dick, arranging himself so their arms overlapped. His smile was full and warm and the world felt like it had slowed down, even if it hadn’t stopped.

Dick turned toward him and paused to watch Nix’s face. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Nix smiled again and tucked in next to Dick, tipping his head up to kiss his cheek. “Any time.”


End file.
